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      08-15-2015, 12:55 PM   #1
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My Excellent 335i Cross Country Road Trip

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I recently went on a cross country road trip through 8 states and 4 Canadian provinces with my 2012 F30 335i. I love long road trips and one of the reasons I got the F30 335i is to go epic long road trips across Canada and the United States. This was to be a two part road trip. The first leg of my journey started in Calgary, Alberta on July 24, 2015 and ended in Toronto, Ontario three days later on August 26, 2015. The leg of my road trip was a total of 3,678km or 2,300 miles. The second part of my road trip was the return trip from Toronto to Calgary going all through Canada, but more about that later. I did this drive with myself and my two kids aged 9 and 7. This made for some long days as there was no one to share the driving with.


Note on modifications: When I purchased my 2012 335i as a CPO from my local BMW dealer last October it came as the Sportline model. I really loved the sportline interior with the black leather seats and red stitching but I did make a bunch of upgrades to the exterior and under the hood. Here is a list of modes I made:

• M Performance Power Kit
• M Performance Exhaust c/w with matte black ceramic coated M Performance exhaust tips
• CG Precision VSC-1 - Variable Sound Controller
• M Performance Big Brake Kit c/w with red calipers
• M-Sport Aerodynamics Kit – new front bumper, rocker panels and rear bumper. I plan on getting the carbon fiber rear diffuser and carbon fiber side skirts to go under my new rocker panels
• Blacked out front grill
• Sportline red and black handbrake
• Sportline floor mats with red trim - they look amazing with the red accents and red stitching inside the car.
• Rear spoiler for the trunk
• Side sill M Performance vinyl sticker
• BMW LED footwell lights
• Black 335i trunk lettering







On the first morning of my road trip I gassed up the 335i at the local Shell gas station using their V-Power premium gas. Fortunately, I was able to find Shell gas stations all along my route and was able to fill up the car with the V-Power premium gas. Here in Calgary I was lucky to find a Shell gas station with the V-Power premium gas because the local Shell refinery had suffer a huge unscheduled shutdown and it was nearly impossible to find the V-Power premium gas anywhere. Even two weeks later after I returned to Calgary Shell still seems to be struggling with refinery maintenance as I still had a hard time finding their V-Power preimum gas




The drive through Montana was spectacular. The scenery was amazing and the roads were usually quite empty. There was lots of opportunity for cruising at highway speeds of 130-150 km/hr (80-95 mph). Nary a BMW could be found on these roads either. Mostly I found souped up pick-up trucks on these roads. The first BMW of any kind I found on the road was near Sioux Falls SD, on I-90





After 14 hours we arrived in Rapid City, SD where we stayed the night. Just before arriving in Rapid City I ended up driving through Sturgis, SD where thousands and thousands of guys on loud Harley motorcycles were gathering there for their annual Harley rally. It was a good thing as I was just driving through Sturgis as it probably not a good combination to have a BMW and thousands of Harleys in the same place The next day I drove out to Mount Rushmore for a quick look and it this placed did not fail to impress. Mount Rushmore is an amazing place, As I walked past all the marble colonnades on the way to see the giant carvings I got a sense that I was entering on of the holy of holies of American culture and history! The next leg of my road trip took me from Rapid City to Madison, WI. Another 14 hours of driving!




The third and final day of the first leg of my road trip took us from Madison, WI to Toronto, ON. We drove through Chicago, IL and spent about an hour there to check the place out. Surprisingly, on early Sunday morning there even traffic jams in Chicago, which really slowed down my progress. Is the traffic really this bad here? I found the roads through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan to be horrible! Besides a crazy amount of tolls (fortunately, I had lots of loose change to pay for them) the roads are in horrible condition. There are so many potholes and longitudinal cracks in the concrete interstate that my poor 335i was constantly vibrating from them. The road noise was horrible. I have driven all over Canada and the western United States and the roads here are by far the worst. I did not expect such lousy road conditions on the interstate. It also seemed like that through Illinois and Indiana that speed limits were more like suggestions rather than something that people actaully followed. I noticed that people would often drive 50% to even twice the speed limit on many roads. But I did not really mind..... as the saying goes... when in Rome do as the Romans do I also notice that through out the Chicago area drivers employed rather creative forms of road rage that included a component to educate the offending driver. All in all it was very enjoyable and entertaining to drive throught the Chicago area.




Finally after another 10 hours of driving I made it to Toronto. I took the border crossing back into Canada through Sarnia and it was incredibly fast.... like it was almost not even there. I did not have to wait at all and our friendly Canadian customs officer waved us through after a few quick questions. The roads in Ontario are were considerably better. I grew up in Ontario and we used to always complain about how bad the roads where.... no more. I spent about a week and a half visiting southern Ontario as I have family and friends down there. Below is a picture of the 335i in my mom's back yard.

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Last edited by BigRedG80; 08-15-2015 at 04:53 PM..
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      08-15-2015, 01:29 PM   #2
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My Excellent 335i Cross Country Road Trip (Second Leg)

The second leg of my road trip back to Calgary is 3,446 km (2,150 miles). The route I took back to Calgary was entirely through Canada and over half of it was through the wilderness of northern, Ontario. For you American folks just imagine driving through Alaska or Siberia and you can get an idea of what this drive is like. I started the trip back on August 6, 2015 and arrived in Calgary on August 8, 2015.




Most of the drive back to Calgary goes through northern Ontario and this section of drive is mostly through wilderness which comprises of endless forests, swamps, muskeg, lakes, mosquitoes and black flies. I have done this segment of driving many times (this was actually the 18th time I did the drive through northern Ontario) and I love driving it every time. The scenery is spectacular and there is something to be said for having the road all to yourself.




The only downside of driving here is that the gas is nearly twice as expensive as what I paid in the United States and most of the route is only a two lane road. There is hardly any divided highway on this stretch of road. So there is tons of passing of transport trucks, campers and slow cars. Summer is also construction season on the Trans-Canada highway with many bridges under repair.




My 335i ran marvellously well on this road trip. The N55 ran silky smooth and it seemed to run even better as the road trip progressed. There was always lots of power to pass 1, 2, 3 or even 4 cars at time. I did get this annoying message on my iDrive about 450 km before Calgary. I was not even applying the brakes and I got the service warning telling me my brake pads are just about done. WTF. A month or so before my road trip I had the M Performance big brake kit installed on my car so my callipers, rotors and brake pads are all brand new. I asked the service tech to reset the service interval for my brakes but obviously he forgot to do that So now I have an appointment for next week to have them reset it. Shortly after I got this warning on my iDrive my windshield got nailed with a rock from a Winnebago camper and it left a nice stone chip right on the center of my windshield! This stone chip was a big one and it was over half an inch in diameter. Fortunately, I found one of those stonechip repair guys setup next to a Tim Hortons donut shop in Medicine Hat, Alberta and had him fix it right away. He did a great job as you can hardly notice it. I had to get that stone chip fixed asap as if I would have left it my whole windshield would have been toast!




The total distance for the entire road trip was 8,412km (5,257 miles) and with only 6km to spare in the gas tank That also includes about a 1,000 km worth of driving around in Ontario.



I got some pretty good gas mileage on this road trip. According to the iDrive I got about 30 mpg. The table below shows the gas mileage for each individual fuel up from fuelly.com. On the highway my average speed was around 130 km/h or 80 mph. I think 30 mpg gallon is pretty darn good for this speed. There was also lots of hills and big head winds on some sections which also reduced my overall mileage. Through in the bumper to bumper traffic around Chicago and the fuel economy is not bad. The best segment was from Regina to Calgary. I did it on one tank of gas and drove 770 km (482 miles) with an average speed of 130 km/h and a gas mileage of 31 mpg. The prairies are pretty flat and there was zero headwind which really helped.

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Last edited by BigRedG80; 03-12-2016 at 11:39 AM..
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      08-15-2015, 03:02 PM   #3
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Very nice write-up on what appeared to be an epic journey through two great countries!

You noted yours is a 2012 335, but I see an M-Sport front fascia and side-sill decals...I assume you just added these post-purchase? What other upgrades have you made?
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      08-15-2015, 03:10 PM   #4
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Wink

I love the start of your thread! Is there more ??


There needs to be more!

Love what you be done to your car!


Thx

Most please
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      08-15-2015, 03:13 PM   #5
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Awesome report !
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      08-15-2015, 03:36 PM   #6
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You should have said hi when you went through Madison!!
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      08-15-2015, 04:10 PM   #7
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Great journey and a beautiful car!!

Yes the roads in Michigan are abysmally horrible. You were lucky that you drove on them in the smooth season, you should try them in the springtime after the winter thaw.
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      08-15-2015, 04:15 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AudiA4 View Post
Very nice write-up on what appeared to be an epic journey through two great countries!

You noted yours is a 2012 335, but I see an M-Sport front fascia and side-sill decals...I assume you just added these post-purchase? What other upgrades have you made?
You are right I did make a bunch of upgrades to my 335i. When I purchased my 2012 335i as a CPO from my local BMW dealer last October it came as the Sportline model. I really loved the sportline interior with the black leather seats and red stitching but I did make a bunch of upgrades to the exterior and under the hood. Here is a list of modes I made:

• M Performance Power Kit
• M Performance Exhaust c/w with matte black ceramic coated M Performance exhaust tips
• CG Precision VSC-1 - Variable Sound Controller
• M Performance Big Brake Kit c/w with red calipers
• M-Sport Aerodynamics Kit – new front bumper, rocker panels and rear bumper. I plan on getting the carbon fiber rear diffuser and carbon fiber side skirts to go under my new rocker panels
• Blacked out front grill
• Sportline red and black handbrake
• Sportline floor mats with red trim - they look amazing with the red accents and red stitching inside the car.
• Rear spoiler for the trunk
• Side sill M Performance vinyl sticker
• BMW LED footwell lights
• Black 335i trunk lettering

All these mods I added post purchase
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      08-15-2015, 04:16 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrivenByE30 View Post
I love the start of your thread! Is there more ??


There needs to be more!

Love what you be done to your car!


Thx

Most please
You can find the second part of my road tripp here:

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1162142

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      08-15-2015, 04:20 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murrays View Post
You should have said hi when you went through Madison!!
Next time i'm in you your neck of the woods I'll be sure to say hi. It would have been great to talk to another BMW enthusiast along the way.

Interestingly enough at the hotel I was staying at in Madison there was this young guy who was driving his E90 BMW from Winnipeg to Connecticut. We chatted a bit about about our rides.
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      08-15-2015, 04:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DDD31 View Post
Great journey and a beautiful car!!

Yes the roads in Michigan are abysmally horrible. You were lucky that you drove on them in the smooth season, you should try them in the springtime after the winter thaw.
I would imagine with those horrible roads you must go through tires quicker? Do you still use the runflats on the Michigan roads or do you use normal non runflat tires?
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      08-15-2015, 04:22 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrivenByE30 View Post
Awesome report !
Thanks
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      08-15-2015, 05:26 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DDD31 View Post
Great journey and a beautiful car!!

Yes the roads in Michigan are abysmally horrible. You were lucky that you drove on them in the smooth season, you should try them in the springtime after the winter thaw.
Totally agree. I used to think the roads around here in Toronto were bad until I went to Michigan, in particular Detroit and the surrounding suburbs.

The OP, looks like a great road trip.
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      08-15-2015, 09:20 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F30_Fahrer View Post
I would imagine with those horrible roads you must go through tires quicker? Do you still use the runflats on the Michigan roads or do you use normal non runflat tires?
I'm still on the original run flats (Continental) and I've had pretty good success with the standard 18 inch rims on our roads. My 07 E90 335i with sport package and non-run flat Michelin tires didn't fare as well suffering 2 bent rims. Our stupid politicians are trying to figure out how to pay to fix our roads after we voted down the last proposal because it was so filled with ridiculous "pork projects".
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      08-15-2015, 09:51 PM   #15
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Awesome write up. Awesome road trip. Next time try to make it out to New York and explore the northeast.
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      08-16-2015, 02:52 PM   #16
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Thanks for posting. Loved both posts

Inspiring write-up great car, and as already noted 2 great countries!

On holiday (vacation) I've driven from Boston up to Quebec, and on another occasion from LA to Vegas to Yosemite to Tahoe to San Fran. Absolutely loved the roads, for the most part 2 lane & deserted, and the scenery was breathtaking. Funny you note the 'friendly Canadian border control dude...' We found the Canadian border crossing really smooth and the staff really pleasant. They seemed to revel in letting us know we we're entering a friendlier more relaxed country, not that we found the yanks unfriendly!

Great posts OP, and you're a lucky sod living were you live.
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      08-16-2015, 05:24 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F30_Fahrer View Post
Next time i'm in you your neck of the woods I'll be sure to say hi. It would have been great to talk to another BMW enthusiast along the way.

Interestingly enough at the hotel I was staying at in Madison there was this young guy who was driving his E90 BMW from Winnipeg to Connecticut. We chatted a bit about about our rides.
FYI, the roads west of Madison are fantastic; they'd be worth a day long side trip! I ride my bicycle on them all the time so I know them by heart!
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      08-23-2015, 11:14 AM   #18
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Very unique trip to traveler between two points in Canada via the U.S.



Great story and I see its in two parts I'll have to check back later when I have more time



Tip: you can block out posts in your own thread by making several initial posts ( let's say 5 posts for 5 sections of your journal ) and then later editing them.
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      08-23-2015, 11:15 AM   #19
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Great write up. Cheers
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      08-23-2015, 11:16 AM   #20
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Great write up! I love how you gave Chicago as much page space as mt rushmore, especially with all the places you went to and only spending an hour here. Being from chicago, i must just be used to all the traffic, crappy roads and a$$hole drivers. Traffic is pretty bad most of the time, but i've figured out the best time to get around to where i need.

As for speed limits, 70mph is the minimum (55 suggested) on highways, and usually wont get pulled over unless youre swerving in and out and going noticeably faster than others. This makes up for the amount of traffic. On regular streets though, too many speed cameras in the city to speed.
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      08-23-2015, 11:55 AM   #21
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I love the look of those wheels with the M-Sport aero kit!
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      08-23-2015, 01:26 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DDD31 View Post
I'm still on the original run flats (Continental) and I've had pretty good success with the standard 18 inch rims on our roads. My 07 E90 335i with sport package and non-run flat Michelin tires didn't fare as well suffering 2 bent rims. Our stupid politicians are trying to figure out how to pay to fix our roads after we voted down the last proposal because it was so filled with ridiculous "pork projects".
I have found switching over to my Pilot Sport A/S-3s with 40 profile sidewalls really helps. My F30 lowered on dinan + 19s actually feels far more comfortable than my stock E90 + 18" runflats. I am also very careful, I did bend one of my old VMRs on I-94. I actively avoid road imperfections here. Of course i'm from the Northeast, so I'm used to bad roads all over .

Thanks for sharing OP, I recently took a 1500 mile road trip in my F30 from MI to Bimmerfest East/home in NJ and NY and back. Loved it. What bothered me was getting my m-sport bumper and lip damaged so I used painters tape on the critical areas.
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